BLITZ: Texas-sized triumph, 40-7

Bobcats start fast, run away with win over Calif. opponent

Quinton Martinez

12:46 AM, Sep 8, 2012

SA Blitz cover cutlines:The Central High School football team celebrates a touchdown early in the first quarter of the Bobcats' game against visiting Scott Valley, Calif., at San Angelo Stadium on Friday night.

SA Blitz cover cutlines:Central High School wide receiver Keyland Taylor scores a 20-yard touchdown in first half against Scott Valley.

The game between the Central Bobcats and Scotts Valley, Calif., began Friday as a showcase between Texas and California on the football field.

It quickly became a showcase for the Bobcats.

Senior Keyland Taylor returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, a part of six first-half touchdowns for Central, as the Bobcats scored bragging rights for Texas with a 40-7 win over their visitors from Northern California.

"Anytime you return a kick on the first play, after that it seems like it just keeps rolling downhill," Taylor said. "It makes the game easier and boosts morale.

"I was supposed to go up the middle, but my blockers had set up a hole to the outside so I busted outside and everything else took care of itself."

Central scored as many points in the opening two quarters (40) as it had in the entire first game against El Paso Franklin.

The Bobcats were leery of running back Ari Wargon and the Falcons' ground game, but they quickly pounced on the Scotts Valley passing game.

Central picked off three passes in the first half, turning them into 14 points.

In the first half, the Bobcats also got a big-time performance from senior running back Jordan Charles, who found the end zone three times.

Charles only finished with 38 yards rushing and 37 yards receiving, but the senior took charge when the Bobcats were in the red zone.

Charles said the whole team fed off the opening kickoff return TD.

"In practice, special teams is really important," he said. "For us to get that return — that was big for us because we've been working on it really hard in practice. Everybody was excited to get that house call.

"The blocking was amazing tonight in the red zone. We had good time to pass and all the blocks were there to run. That was the key to us scoring."

Charles caught a screen pass from quarterback Mickey Scott with a bevy of blockers in front of him and wove through defenders for a 25-yard touchdown to push Central ahead 13-0.

Wargon had some opportunistic runs in the first half with three rushes longer than 10 yards, but the Central defense never let him break one for a score. The senior had 53 of his 82 yards at halftime, but the Falcons were left with third-and-long situations too often for their power rushing attack to find success.

"I don't think (the deficit) affected the play-calling," Johnston said. "When you get down, you do have to open up things, but I think the biggest thing was the atmosphere — we aren't used to this — and the speed. They were the fastest team we've seen so far, and it is really going to help us in league and in our next few games."

Even when the Falcons busted out a gadget play, the Bobcats pounced.

Johnson hit backup quarterback Jake Lobo split out wide with blockers in front of him, but instead Lobo dropped back to pass, only to see his attempt intercepted by Bryan Bass, who returned the ball 45 yards to Scotts Valley 32.

A 15-yard personal foul penalty against Central pushed the ball back to the 47, but it took the Bobcats just six plays to march those 47 yards, capped by a Sterling Smith 10-yard touchdown grab.

The drive bridged the first and second quarters and pushed the Central lead to 27-0 with 11 minutes left in the first half.

Charles added the last of his scores after an interception by Connor Frank, on a 16-yard run that he broke to the outside for his third touchdown.

By the break, Central led 40-0 and the Bobcats took their foot off the gas.

Scotts Valley finally got onto the scoreboard midway through the fourth quarter when Johnston plunged in from a yard out.

Jake Renberg set up the score after hauling in a 22-yard pass from Johnston that gave the Falcons a first-and-goal from inside the 1.

The touchdown capped a 60-yard drive engineered by Johnston as the Falcons took to the air after their power running attack mustered just 73 yards.

At the end of the night, Scotts Valley actually threw for more yards (80) than it ran for.

Just a week ago, the Falcons ran the ball on 48 of 60 offensive snaps in knocking off Evergreen Valley.

The Bobcats (1-1) finished with 305 yards of offense after going for over 500 against Franklin. They often were left with short fields after lengthy interception returns into Falcons territory.

Scotts Valley (1-1) may have come out on the losing end of the scoreboard, but Johnston said that the trip was everything he hoped it would be as a senior leader on the team.

"We came out flat a little in the first half and we need to pick it up a bit," Johnston said. "They treated us well and did a great job down here. I've dreamed about this for my whole life. The outcome wasn't what we wanted, but this was the best experience I could ask for.

"This made my senior year that much better."Central now heads into District 2-5A play with momentum, as the Bobcats will open play hosting Lubbock Coronado on Thursday.

"We probably should have won last week, but I think it is really good we won this week," Taylor said. "I think we showed everybody what we could do."